Police bosses in $20k extortion racket

Two senior police officers have been accused of engineering an extortion scam in which a Chinese national reportedly lost $20 000.

The two police bosses allegedly enlisted the services of Delish Nguwaya, 32, Zano Vengai, 33, Clever Gadzikwa, 36, and Mbereki Mbizo Nyathi, 44, to pose as law enforcement personnel in the extortion scam.

The four are being charged with extortion before Harare regional magistrate Temba Kuwanda.

In an affidavit attached to Nguwaya’s application for referral of the case to the Constitutional Court (Con-Court), he claimed that superintendents Nyarai Majachani and another only identified as Tachiona had masterminded the scam and admitted they shared the extorted money.

Tachiona is alleged to have hired Nguwaya and his accomplices in a bid to beef up numbers and pounce on Chinese businessman Baonini Guo, the co-owner of Valedge Investment Ltd, specialising in maize milling and cornflakes manufacturing before intimidating and extorting $19 900 from him in return for protection of his business interests.

Allegations are that on June 13 last year, Zano, Gadzikwa and Nguwaya presented themselves to Guo as members of the CID, President’s Office and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and wanted to check his company’s documents.

It is alleged they took $19 900 from the complainant, who together with his partner believed the suspects were on a sanctioned law enforcement operation.

The Chinese businessman decided not to report the matter.

On August 17, the complainant reported the matter after discovering that he had been duped.

“After the complainant had surrendered his money to Tachiona, I went to his office and found Gadzikwa counting money on the table,” Nguwaya said in his affidavit.

“Tachiona was apportioning it and I was given $500 and the rest to Majachani and others.

“The following day I received intelligence that Tachiona had returned to Guo to extort more money and in exchange, was never investigated for the offence he was facing.”

Nguwaya’s lawyer Jonathan Samukange’s basis for referral of the case to the Con-Court was that his client was tricked by police, who promised him immunity from prosecution by turning him into a State witness but later turned tables.

Nguwaya claims that Majachani fabricated charges against him and threatened to allegedly manipulate the prosecution for him to be jailed.

“I spent over a month in remand prison after drugs and a sex enhancing pill was planted in my car. Majachani openly told me that I was going to jail for good because I had crossed her line when I divulged information about her illegal dealings,” added Nguwaya.

“…at some instances she would even assault me just to humiliate me in the presence of her subordinates and I have only been made a sacrificial lamb for the crimes she participated in.” Daily News